The Rage Of Kyon!
by xXMethereaperXx
Summary: Kyon, tired of the mistreatment of him and his friends at the hand of Haruhi, decides it's past due to seek the normal life he deserves. However, it seems he was never meant for that life. After being confronted by a group claiming to be in search of a new world, he may have found a way to rid Haruhi of her power. Can you see reality in your eyes, when hate makes you blind? AU
1. Prologue

Okay, here we are. My prologue to my first Haruhi Suzumiya story!

Let's get some things out of the way…

1. I don't consider myself a good author, so don't be expecting an monumental story. I just hope to get my idea across.

2. I have only read the first book (Melancholy) and half of the second (Sigh) and this story will take off from where Haruhi is hitting Asahina and Kyon gets angry… The dialogue won't be the same from what I read since I had to return the book, but I found the Japanese episode online and it has subs, so I'll do my best.

3. I am expecting flames from the hardcore anime fans, but I am only 'Expecting' and would prefer none. I'm not obsessive about anime/manga, so I'm not as devout as some.

Well, let's get started.

Also, if anyone can guess where I took my opening line from, they will receive a theoretical cookie.

(NOTICE [read very fast out loud if necessary]: Theoretical cookies have no value, and are really only given out by people who have nothing else to give, so whoever wins it thinks they have won something and will brag to their friends only to receive confused and awkward glances. Theoretical cookies may not be given, transferred, sold, thrown away, or destroyed once received. You're stuck with it.)

* * *

They say the mind bends and twists to deal with the stress of life. Well, I guess my mind twisted so much it snapped in two.

After everything that's happened this year, that makes sense. Right?

I mean… It's not ordinary to be confronted by Espers, Aliens, and Time Travelers. So whose to say the human mind doesn't take such precautions when protecting the body it serves? Well, as weird as I thought all that was, nothing was worse than the events of the day that the universe was nearly destroyed.

Maybe the events leading up to it were a warning that I shouldn't have overlooked. It's easy to say that I've changed. I've wanted to remain neutral, but with two sides bribing you join it's difficult.

Overminds, Underlords, what's the difference? Nothing.

Or so I thought.

Well, we were shooting a scene for the movie in Tsuru's room, and I guess that's where I lost it.

"Mikuru, time to wake up!" shouted the mighty director through her megaphone.

Mikuru slowly opened her eyes and sat up in the bed. She turned to face Koizumi who was kneeling close by.

"Where is this?" Mikuru said, pretending to be as unaware as her role depended on.

All the while this was going on, I sort of faded in and out of reality. Something was happening. Haruhi couldn't possibly put Mikuru through this, could she?

She could.

"You two, put your faces closer together!"

The moment I heard that, I was back in my own body. She had put her through so much already, was this necessary? This would maker the movie worse, but it wasn't about the movie anymore. It was about morals. It was about decency.

It was about rage.

"Close your eyes! Koizumi, put your hand around her back! Now hurry up and push her over for the kiss!"

I counted to and from ten like they say you should when you're angry, but it didn't help.

They were getting closer. My hands were trembling. They didn't show any remorse for what they were doing. Especially Mikuru, who you would expect to start whimpering or protesting.

Closer. That's when I lost it.

"Wait a minute!"

Everyone in the room turned their eyes to me. Good.

"This is going to far! Why is this kind of scene needed in the film?!"

"It's a love scene. It takes up time between important scenes." Haruhi answered calmly.

"What is this, a primetime genre?! And Koizumi, what are you doing, getting all into it?"

I stated my point. Time for the detail.

"If we show this at school, you will get hundreds of death wishes in your shoe box!"

Tsuru began laughing and pointing, "Mikuru's so funny!"

That's when I noticed Mikuru was acting funny. Her eyes were watery, her cheeks were flushed, and she's not resisting Koizumi. Almost as if…

"You drugged her!"

Tsuru laughed nervously, and rubbed the back of her head, "Sorry, I couldn't resist! I put some sweet sake in her drink!"

I looked to Haruhi who was sitting as if nothing had happened.

"Look, she's fine! Anyway, kiss her already! Mouth to mouth!"

"Stop this Koizumi!"

I guess I was pretty angry, because I could feel the tension in the room, and Koizumi said…

"Director, this is a bit much for me. Mikuru's already at her limit.

With a sigh, Haruhi rose from her seat and approached Mikuru, "There's no helping it I guess."

She knelt next to Mikur and said, "What will we do with you? Getting so drunk on sweet sake…"

Now she was trying to pin it on her! I couldn't take much more.

She wacked her with the megaphone, "Come on, wake up."

It wasn't much, but what she said was worse.

"You should at least stretch your back in shock."

"Quit it!" I yelled. I guess it was pretty loud, but Haruhi just glanced at me.

"Don't get in my way."

That was the last straw. My vision grew red, I couldn't see anything, or control myself. Last I knew, my fist was above my head, Haruhi had a shocked look on her face, and Koizumi was clutching my wrist, which was good, because if he didn't, I would have broken that bitch's nose.

Wow. Am I referring to the Haruhi Suzumiya as a bitch? Good.

The bitch- I'm sorry, Haruhi grew angry asked what my problem was, and stated that she was brigade leader, and blah, blah, blah.

I strained against the pressure on my arm and tried to lash out again. She's lucky Mikuru mumbled something and clutched to my legs. I dropped the camera, which I managed to switch to my other hand, and pushed Mikuru off of me.

I finally broke free of Koizumi and stormed out of the house.

I gave up. If any of them needed something from me, oh well. I would no longer acknowledge any of them.

I walked to the train station, still looking as pissed as before, from what I could tell by passerby's faces. The ride home calmed me down a little, and when I got home, I quietly walked up to my room.

I paced back and forth trying to think of what would happen, then I slid onto my bed.

I don't care. I don't care if the world is destroyed by open closed space, or if Haruhi decides she doesn't like it anymore. I don't care if the overmind comes down from the heavens, and smites all of us non-believers.

Ha! Religion jokes.

I fell asleep angry, sure I would be back to normal tomorrow, and ready to apologize.

I wasn't.

* * *

Well, there's the prologue. I know it isn't exactly like the anime, but oh well. It's gonna be original from here on out.

I may have some Ocs, and if anyone wants to help me out by telling me the names of Kyon's friends, the two men, I'd appreciate it. I forgot…

Anyway, thanks for reading. If you enjoyed it and plan to review, don't forget to include the answer, for your theoretical cookie! (Notice…)


	2. Beginning of the end

Thanks for clicking on my story!

A Little explanation, I had grown tired with the story so it hasn't been developed.

Anyway, I was at Border's the other day, and I passed by the manga section and noticed they had the first book.

Well, I had given away my collection and I had the money in my pocket, so I decided to rebuild it.

After reading the first haruhi manga, I decided to give it another shot.

Well, let's get it over with.

\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]

God, have you ever felt like you were abducted by aliens and your skull was cut open in an attempt to find out more about the human species?

That's how I felt when I woke up the next morning.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, I was calmer than I was yesterday.

I know that i'm gonna be into it today for my actions, but I didn't care. Total seclusion, live the normal life.

Well, these few months with Haruhi shown me I didn't want the normal life.

I want everyone to be normal, but I want to be different. I want to control my life. I don't like the thought of some overmind telling me what to do.

I wouldn't mind being popular, I wouldn't mind having an A- girlfriend, a B would be fine with me. I want The Life!

Well, as I walked to school a boxy American car blaring some kind of music I couldn't even understand.

As the window started to roll down, I realized I should have kept running.

The driver turned the music down and revved the engine twice.

As he turned to look at me, I noticed he had long black hair that was straightened to it's full length. He was wearing sunglasses, and a cigarette hung from the corner of his mouth.

I wanted to run, but I was captivated, no, frozen in place.

He slid his sunglasses down to his nose and stared at me carefully with his glaring red eyes.

"Kyon?"

"Uh, yeah. How did you know my nick-"

Another engine rev, "Get in, i'll give you a ride to school."

His Japanese was pretty good, considering he looked to be around my age. Still, I couldn't move.

"I don't think that's necessary, it isn't too much of a walk."

With a sigh, the driver pushed his sunglasses up and replied, "We need to talk about Haruhi. I know all about her, Yuki Nagato, Mikuru Asahina, and Itsuki Koizumi."

"How do you know about them?" asked Kyon with curiosity instead of amazement.

"I have detailed files on everyone. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. I promise you will not be harmed either choice."

Kyon remained standing on the curb until he was automatically forced into the car by calmly walking around to the passenger side and opening the door.

After he was seated with his safety belt on, the driver nodded, "Sorry about that, but you don't know the importance of your role in this war."

"War?"

"Ya," he said as the car pulled away from the curb, "I know you heard about the Overmind, but he has a brother, the Underlord. Have you read the story, '_The World On The Turtle's Back_'? Probably not, it's an Native American story about how they believe the world was created."

"What can you tell me about the Underlord?"

'That's it Kyon, play it soft.'

"Well, he is also interested in Haruhi's data link. In all the movies there's a good side and a bad side who believe they are the good side. Well, i'm gonna be blunt. We are interested in world domination. We ARE the bad side. We feel we can do better with the world."

"Really?"

"Yes, while Haruhi is the key, you are the the gate. Only through you, can her power be unlocked."

"I don't believe you. She is a total jerk to everyone, especially me. I decided to drop her from my life completely."

"Good idea. Personally, we don't care which you choose. We just want you on our side. We can control this world even greater than the overmind."

The car stopped outside the school and several people walking by stopped and watched to see what was going on.

"Thanks for the ride, but before I believe anything you say, I want to hear more about everything."

The driver nodded and opened his jacket, "Fair enough. Here is my card. I can arrange for another follower of the underlord to pick you up today and we can talk more."

Kyon took the card and read the name next to the numbers.

"Martin, can you please find a different name for your gang of thieves, Followers of the Under lords sounds like a cult, or a bad American band name."

Martin continued staring but after a moment pulled a chess piece out of his pocket.

"Think of everything as a game of chess, or maybe Mahjong for you."

Kyon took the small glass object and turned it over in his hands.

"If you need anything, or find yourself in trouble, follow the queen."

Martin made a clicking motion with his hand and Kyon realized that the top of the object was made to push inward.

"Our conversation was short, but i'll explain everything later. Now get out of my car."

Kyon opened the door and stepped on the sidewalk. After the door was closed, the vehicle lurched and sped away with a squeal of the tires.

Kunikida and Taniguchi happened to be entering the school gates when they noticed this weird event unfold in front of them and decided to see what develops.

"Well, aren't we having a typical day. Given rides to school by mysterious strangers, next you're off to find your wife Haruhi right?"

Kyon glared at Taniguchi and kept walking, "I'm not in the mood. Today is the wrong day for you to be a jerk."

"What's his problem?" Taniguchi asks Kunikida confusedly.

Kunikida sighed and began walking towards the school, "You're always messing with him."

"I'm just kidding! He knows that!"

"It's a bad day to be you."

As Kyon enters the class room Haruhi is sitting in her seat, but gives an expectant glance when he walks in.

Okabe enters but bumps into Kyon and adjusts his glasses.

"Oh, excuse me."

Okabe moves to pass Kyon, but Kyon turns and points to an empty desk in the middle of the class.

"Excuse me, would you mind if I move into that desk, sir? Sitting that close to the window hurts my eyes and makes it harder for me to see."

Okabe glances at the middle of the class, the staring students, and his current seat by the window.

"Well, I don't see the problem with it. A new seating arrangement can benefit everyone. I should discuss it with the other teachers, but I don't think they'd worry."

"Thank you, Okabe-San." said Kyon as he bowed and went to his new, Haruhi-free seat.

'Justice!' he cheers silently as he opens his book to prepare for the day.

He could feel the penetrating looks from the surrounding students, but he doesn't care. He taps the chess piece in his pocket, and grins silently.

Today is the first day of the revolution. Haruhi, will lose her rein of power.

\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\]\

Geez, I have a lot left to accomplish!

I tried to keep everything as similar as I could without losing my ideas, but it still ended up too short for my typical UL's.

Anyway, it'll take me a bit to fall back into writing, but if you want to leave a reply, suggestion, or death threat, feel free. I read them all and usually respond whether good or bad.

Thank you for reading.


	3. Comrade

Two years and the hate mail stopped. Time to stir up the hornet's nest.

Thanks to those who have waited patiently. My writing has improved (Hell, it couldn't of gotten any worse), it'll be easier to read I hope.

Also, gonna start naming the music I'm listening to while writing the stories. In case you want to listen to it while you read. It's a large part of where my inspiration came from.

Queens Of The Stone Age - Go With The Flow

* * *

I could faintly hear everyone discussing the events from the morning, even now as I walked out of the school towards the gates where an unofficial mob was gathering behind a row of low bushes.

The closer I got, the more clearly I saw Taniguchi among the mostly male occupied group.

I moved to keep walking, but was called by a quiet shout. I sighed as I calculated my chance at escape… It was low.

"What's going on?" I asked as I knelt beside the occupants of Fort Bush.

Taniguchi's eyes never left his target, "There's an angel among us!"

"What?"

A voice I didn't recognize at first replied over Taniguci's rating of the specimen, "Over there, look. Has to be a super model- No! An ultra model!"

"Super's better than ultra, Kentai," Kunikida's voice stated from further down the line.

"You too?" I asked quietly.

From the left of me came Taniguchi again, "Do you think if I pretend I'm blind she'll let me read her-"

… I had to shut him up, right?

"What was that for?!" he yelled while he rubbed his aching head.

Turning back to the entrance of the school, I seen who they were talking about.

She stood leaning against the wall, the most beautiful creature alive. In a short skirt with a loose fitting shirt and leather belt, she was breath taking. Her hair was as dark as night and hung down to her… *cough* belly… region…

Her eyes were bright purple, large and sad looking, and they were… LOOKING THIS WAY!

Kentai slid his glasses back on and shouted, "Run!"

The group began to scatter as she began walking over. The only ones left were me and… Koizumi?

I didn't acknowledge him. I remained frozen by this beauty walking towards me. Wait… she looked so familiar…

"That's not Haruhi," a voice to my right said.

That was it. She looked just like Haruhi, except for the hair. Hers was slightly darker and differently styled, but everything else was similar.

"Kyon?" she asked, her voice impatient, her eyes locked on Koizumi.

I nodded.

Koizumi seemed to stumble backwards before she turned to leave, "Let's go. They're waiting."

I started around the bush waiting for Koizumi to stop me but he never did. Just stood there fuming over his attack, completely forgetting I existed.

**[][][]**

After an entire hour of walking in circles and no conversation, we turned up at a rough looking club seven blocks from the school. The walk would have been just as arduous if I didn't have my schoolwork with me.

"All that walk for this place?" another attempt at conversation.

A bored sigh, and she started walking away, "Just wait inside, I have to run some errands."

I was left facing a tank top wearing juggernaut riddled with a case of tackle box face and ink skin. His hair was green and mohawked, adding more to his six foot stature.

The building he stood in front of resembled him almost perfectly. Ragged cinderblock in need of repair, old neon dimly lighting the word 'Comrade', the remnants of torn and tattered concert posters from outdated bands.

So this was Comrade's. Some of the wilder people from school talked about it like it was the funnest thing to do… aside from homework and studying.

Believing I was about to meet my demise, I walked around to where a group was standing near the door. There was an argument between some people over tickets and what it would take to get them backstage. Among them were two of the members from the gymnastics club. They nodded politely then turned back to where their dates were still yelling with Mohawk man, who was taking it with an impressive patience.

Facing me, he raised his head in a reverse nod and asked something in a language I couldn't understand.

Seeing my blink of confusion, he attempted to change tactics.

"Happy turtle, say clouds?" was his attempt at speaking my language.

I guess you don't need to speak the language to take tickets and look menacing. I decided to mess with him.

"Ah, you speak English? Your Japanese is atrocious, and you probably have piercings to hang your coat from at the end of the day."

The women had stopped their assault and watched with confusion while the men turned to avoid breaking out in laughter.

"Cloud, cloud," he repeated, having no idea how bad he was messing up.

He tapped the clipboard he was holding and I pretended to understand what he meant.

"Ah. Namu?"

He nodded, "Namu, Namu."

"I don't want you to know my name, you'd probably mess that up too." I said pulling the chess piece from my pocket.

He nodded and moved away from the door. Before I grabbed the handle, he pointed at his ears and said something I couldn't understand. As the door opened, a blast of loud, piercing sound hit me and caused me to stumble backwards momentary.

Bastard's karma got me…

I forced my way in amid the full crowd of people surrounding a raised and fenced off stage.

The group on the stage appeared to be angry and was screaming whatever they had to say. The drummer's hair was short blue with strands of pink and he was slamming on the drums with enough force to shake the glasses on the table I was sitting at.

The more my ears adjusted, the more I could decipher the music. I felt the bass. A rattling note that resonated low enough that I could feel my teeth shaking. The cause was a tall woman in tattered leather who was nodding along with the beat.

The singer was a real piece of work. He was jumping around the stage in just his boxers, colliding with the musicians while he screamed what you only picture were lyrics about petting bunnies and dancing in the rain.

The guitarist was strumming like crazy, swaying violently amid a blur of hair. He was shirtless and wore long, black jean shorts and combat boots. He stepped on something and the sound changed from a vicious chugging noise, to a shrill screech.

With a final blood curdling scream, everything stopped. The crowd was going crazy. When his hair stopped moving, I could make out the face of Martin, the man who picked me up this morning.

Amid the screaming I heard a familiar voice. I seemed to hear many today.

"What are you doing here?"

I glance beside me to see the smiling face of Tsuruya.

I returned my attention to the stage, desperately hoping there's another song to block out her voice.

"Oh come on," she said, dropping into an empty space on the booth stool beside me.

"That was yesterday, and it's today. It's literally in the past." She added, almost bursting into a fit of laughter at her own joke.

"That's still a disgusting thing to do."

Her face dropped into what could have been a frown, but she didn't leave, "What are you doing here? You already missed most of the show."

"I'm meeting friends."

"You have two friends, and I've never seen them here before." she added, believing she won the argument.

After a quick discussion on stage, the singer raised the microphone while the guitarists began turning the knobs on the top of their guitars.

Martin knelt down and messed with the controls on a box sitting at his feet. He strummed once and the sound was enough to get the crowd going. Another adjustment and he was ready.

"Alright!" the singer yelled while Martin moved to the center of the stage, "Last up, Devil's Way."

Another roar from the audience, the loudest being directly in my left ear, and they began. The guitar was less shrill than before, but retained a bite to it.

This time, you could actually hear the singer, "She said my soul is blacker than her eyes. Sometimes I don't realize."

The guitar held a piercing note and played a slow breakdown before returning to the repeated strumming of the original beat.

The singer held up the microphone while Martin leaned over and continued, "I'm killing her, living in a fatal blur. I'll throw myself away, 40 ounces, all it takes. To scratch the itch, and calm the shakes."

He began strumming faster while the singer joined in, "Left alone, left to die. Seeking shelter from the sky. Living in a bottle, day by day increasing throttle."

I was captivated at how the audience was freaking out over this group of people who look more like criminals than people capable of this.

"They're amazing, aren't they? This is my third time seeing them." came the voice to my left, yelling just to be heard.

Something dropped into the seat beside me, pushing Tsuruya farther down. The confused and angry look on her face said she'd met the intruder before.

"Beat it," the model said while glaring at the defeated Tsuruya.

"Thanks," I said quietly enough to not be heard over the music.

Crossed arms, and an bored sigh, "She's so annoying. Thinks everything's a joke."

"Tell me about it,"

The applause was deafening. The band were raising their hands and waving to the crowd.

"Thanks for coming," the singer began, "And give some love to ENOZ!"

A light swung in the direction of a group of woman in the same school uniform. They waved nervously and waited for the moment to end.

"Once everybody leaves, we'll have our discussion while waiting for the leader," non-Haruhi added while the lights began to dim and some of the people moved toward the doors.

That's when I hatched a plan to help with my popularity problem.

"While we're waiting, can I ask you for a small favor?"

**[][][]**

Amid the arguing girls and large bouncer, the boys stepped backwards away from the fray already threatening to break out.

The taller one put his arms behind his head and growled quietly, "This is insane! They've been at it for nearly an hour now!"

The shorter shook his head, "I had no idea Ayamori was this violent."

"We need to start dating women from our school, these private school girls are insane."

"I don't know, Roshan," the shorter began with a sigh, "I just think this was a bad day is all. We left practice so quick I didn't have time to change from my P.E. clothes. I just put my uniform on over it."

"Really?" Roshan asked with blinking eyes.

He nodded, "Yeah. I feel like a superhero."

Roshan sighed and rapidly shook his hands through his brown hair, "Gah! Even what's his name got in! How could we forget the tickets, Toshi?!"

Toshi nervously flattened his shaggy blonde hair, "I know, I know. How did the S.O.S member get in? Kyon, that's his name."

Roshan shook his head, "See, everybody's leaving. We missed the whole show!"

"Maybe we should just go see if we can catch a movie."

As they started back toward their dates, the door opened and a woman leaned out. She looked towards them then spoke to the Mohawk man who in turn nodded at what was said.

"Follow me," she said to the group as more people began to leave.

Roshan and Toshi pointed to themselves in disbelief.

"Yes, all of you, come one," she said in a manner saying she didn't have all day.

They began following her in, pausing only while Ayamori stuck out her tongue and pointed at her eye while looking at Mohawk man who bared his teeth and smiled comically.

"What's going on, Sashi?" asked Ayamori while her short, yellow hair fluttered from the loud ventilation at the doorway.

The smaller girl shook her head nervously, "I don't know. Maybe they're gonna kidnap us!"

"Twice in one week?"

"I told you not to throw that brick, Ayamori."

Roshan nudged Toshi as they passed through the doorway into the now dark room, lit only by a section of lights over a large booth curved around a circular table with 'Comrade' painted under the acrylic finish.

They saw the band, minus the bassist, sitting at the table in a corner of it beside Kyon who leaning against the back, his arms along the headrest.

They shouted something unintelligible while chugging whatever was poured into their glasses. They erupted into laughter while the group arrived at the table.

"'Ey," Martin yelled through a slurred vocabulary, adopting a British accent, "Come over here, have a seat."

"You're drunk already?" asked the non-Haruhi.

"Nah, jus' a bit of the dog found me, 's all."

Kyon moved his books so the group could fit.

"Thanks for finally letting us in, even if we missed the show," Ayamori said with a hint of sternness.

Martin, hearing it as a genuine sentiment, waved it away.

"It not a problem at all. This guy over here," he said while ruffling Kyon's hair, "He says, 'I got some pals outside who couldn't get in.' I wouldn't hear of it, so I said, 'Let'em in, we'll have ourselves a rager!'"

Kyon began straightening his hair, "More or less."

"Of course, we'll have to have ya back for the next one," Martin added.

"YYEARGHH!" the singer yelled while hurling his glass across the room.

Everything grew quiet while they waited to see what would happen next.

He blinked and looked at the table, "Hey, where'd my glass go?"

"You just threw it, you git!" the drummer said amidst the laughter of the group.

Sashi ceased her laughing while everyone continued, "These guys are crazy!"

Toshi leaned toward Kyon and whispered, "Dude, we definitely owe you one."

Kyon shrugged, and turned back to the laughing group.

**[][][]**

The bar was less crowded now, Martin, non-Haruhi, and me being all that was left. Martin seemed to be sobering up and was once again back to his native accent.

"What were we talking about?" asked Martin while holding his head in his hands and staring at the table.

I moved closer to the table, "The reason I should join you."

Martin shook his head slowly, "We're not asking you to join us. All we ask is that you distance yourself from the one you know as Haruhi."

"That's not an issue, but I'd like to know what you get out of it."

Martin waved to this side of him, "You noticed she looks like Haruhi, correct?"

I nodded, feeling like I was being watched by more than the two people at the table.

"Well, Saori here is very much the same as your Haruhi. They are both Data Childs, created through the aftereffect of the creation of this world."

"Data Childs?"

Martin nodded, "They are created to fix errors in the world's system. Unfortunately, they do not possess the ability to do so willingly. Haruhi however has discovered, albeit subconsciously, that she can change the world to her liking, not necessarily to the design of the system."

The look on Saori's face showed she had heard this story a million times.

"Saori, however can read the code of this world and alter to an extent. In other words, she can make happen whatever is to happen."

"I don't understand," was all I could say.

"Well," Martin began.

In literally, a second he drew a pistol from wherever it was concealed and leveled on my head. Were it not for the serious look on his face, I would have ran out of there screaming… had I not feared I'd leave a form of evidence I'd been there.

"Say I wanted to kill you. The only person close enough to stop me would be Saori, and I'm picking up the idea that she doesn't really care for you."

Yeah, I think I picked up on that too.

"So, if the design was for me to kill you, you'd be dead. However, if you were meant to live for some higher reason, she would have no choice but to intervene and stop me from doing so."

The dull expression on her face showed she had no interest of that right now.

"Get it?"

I nodded.

Martin holstered the weapon, "Good. However, there are unknown unknowns, ghosts in the code that you can't fight. Had I been stopped, she would have carried out my wish."

I turned slowly to see the silhouette of a woman standing in the darkness of the unlit half of the room. The only features I could make out were the large red eyes and the glint of a long blade probably a sword.

"So you're the bad guys right?" I said to buy time while I recuperated.

Another nod, "Yes we are. In this world."

"In this world?"

"You know how the movies state bad as the people against the main character? That is all we are, against the main characters, this S.O.S brigade. In the movies, they never show how the bad guys are heroes to their own people, how they are the good guys, and the main characters are the bad guys. It is how you are trained to see people like us."

More calm, I was ready to listen, "So you are bad guys, for good reasons?"

"That's how we see it," Saori added.

A voice from the doorway continued, "Tell me, Kyon."

I turned but could not make out the features of the new arrival, only that his voice was heavily accented in Russian.

The sound of wheels rolling over the rippled wooden planks of the floor, then he came into view. A bald man nearly fifty in age, if I had to guess, with large eyes and a scar running down the left side of his face.

"What do you know of the world? Hmm? Do you know that it is flawed? Death and bloodshed are rampant, fighting wages in countries because of greed and panic. Between me and my little strelok here, we've seen more than our share of reasons to change this world."

Upon further inspection, I could see he was missing his right leg and approached in a wheelchair with a book on his lap.

Reading my eyes, he held up his book, "Do you want to see what the world could be?"

He leaned forward for me to take it, then everything disappeared.

**[][][]**

Next day, same class, new seat. The memories of what I experienced last night inside the world they created, the book that now rested beneath my desk, disguised as required reading for my literature class.

It was when Yuki entered the room this morning, that I knew the purpose of my role in this war.

Stopping at my desk, amid the curious glances and confusion, she held out a book and spoke softly.

"I have another book you may want to read."

"No thanks," I said, keeping the excitement I felt contained, "I have a book of my own."

* * *

Well, I think it went okay. Introduced a lot of characters that'll return later on and are important to the story.

I will refrain from having a lot of music themes in this story, a theme of mine that I know everyone is tired of.

The lyrics used were my own creation and were inspired by the aforementioned song.

Thanks for reading, a big thanks for those of you who waited patiently this year or so for my laziness. I will try to have the next one out much sooner. ^_^

Thanks for reading. Let the Hate Mail begin.

BTW, I am working on my Kekkaishi story, so expect that next if you're waiting.


	4. Welcome To The Machine PT1

Alright, next one. Thanks to the readers and the reviewers. A lot may not make sense right now, but it will later on.

This one's Steven, by Alice Cooper. SUTTERCAIN did a pretty good cover of it.

* * *

Everyone in the room were either eating their lunch or talking about the next episode of a TV show I hadn't seen. Occasionally, I'd hear about the show yesterday, and twice I heard my name brought into it. Also, Toshi had taken my homework and finished it for me. I don't remember him taking it, but he handed my notebook to me this morning and said that Roshan and him were forever in my debt.

Which turned out great, because I had spent the whole night inside the book. I even forgot to pack a bento for today. My stomach rumbled quietly enough for only me to hear. I'm not sure I would have been able to eat anyway.

Between Yuki's invitation, and Haruhi's constant glare attacks, I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep anything down. Luckily Haruhi took to sulking in the club room.

I'd be happy if I wasn't so sure they were scheming something. They'd probably send Mikuru next, then a stern lecture from Koizumi and maybe I'd be defeated. But that wouldn't work. In the two days I knew Martin, I understood more about the universe than I had in my short existence.

However, some of what I read in the book confused me more than what I experienced. Martin said a lot of what they intended to do depended on the occurrence of closed space, and that they've watched me and Yuki battle Ryoko. Well, Yuki battle Ryoko.

Funny that they didn't help.

I'll have to get my facts straight today.

I moved from my seat to the window and looked over the courtyard.

People talking, most pointing towards the middle where the S.O.S Brigade were filming pickup up shots for their film. Even from my position at the closed window I could see Mikuru cowering under Haruhi's berating and I could even hear the muffled yelling that assured me the idea of her changing was as good as the sky falling.

Well, maybe less than that. At this point, anything seemed possible.

In the corner of the yard was a student leaning against the wall. I'd never seen him before, and no one else shown any sign of seeing him. If they had been able to see him, they'd see the glowing, white eyes that were looking straight at me.

I pretended to not notice him and looked away. After a minute or so, I looked back and he was still there. His facial features were normal, and there were no emotions I could read. Just stood there, didn't look bored, angry, or happy.

The shadowed corner where he stood changed as a cloud moved away from the sun. The corner was now awash in sunlight, and his entire body, except his eyes, seemed to flicker. Well, not flicker, but more of a static twitch, like an old TV. It repeated the entire time he was in the sun.

The clouds continued rolling, and once again he was back to normal.

"Hey, Kyon,"

I jumped at the sound and turned to see two girls standing behind me.

I glanced back through the window, and he was gone.

"Yeah, what do you need?"

Neither of them spoke right away, giving me time to try to figure out their names.

"Is it true that you got Roshan and Toshi into Comrade's?"

Hime. I remember her being called on occasionally. Pretty smart, average looking.

Oh god, I'm becoming Taniguchi.

"Well, you could say that."

The taller one I hadn't seen before, must be from a different class. She looked more athletic than her younger, green eyes counterpart, and didn't make eye contact. It took a nudge from Hime to get her to speak.

After a loud sigh, "Do you think you could get us tickets to the next show?"

I blinked at the question, unsure how to answer.

"I don't really know the guy all that much, I don't want to annoy him or anything."

"You don't need to, just thought it was worth asking." Hime said quickly.

"I'm supposed to be meeting him after school, I'll bring it up and see what he says."

With a polite bow, "Thank you, Kyon! We had been trying to get tickets, but they sell out right away. We even asked Mai, and she said they had trouble getting past the doorman and they were playing."

"Yeah, mohawked guy, real friendly."

The bell rang loudly, signaling the near end of break.

Haruhi came pushing past the girls on the way to her seat.

"Move it."

Hime nearly fell forward but caught herself before completely losing her balance.

"Hey," the tall one said loudly, "When you bump into someone you're supposed to apologize."

"Maybe if she wasn't in the way, I wouldn't of had to." She replied, locked in a death stare.

"Sister?" I asked Hime, quiet enough that only she would hear.

"Afraid so. She's in the Martial Arts club, so she's got a bit of a short fuse."

She pulled on her sleeve, "Senki, you're gonna be late to class."

One more moment of visual combat, and she began walking toward the door.

'Bummer,' I couldn't help thinking.

Walking toward our seats, out of earshot, she whispered, "Haruhi seems more irritated than usual, did you two have a fight or something?"

"It's… It's a long story."

"What a shame, you two made a great couple."

"No, no, no, we were never a couple,"

"Even so," she said as she took her seat near the front of the room.

I walked to my seat, avoiding the cold stare of Medusa. After checking to make sure the book was still there, I leaned back and waited for the next class.

Maybe I was supposed to have a strange life.

[][][]

I stopped at the gate to the school and looked back and forth. Martin was waving from farther down the street.

"Why so far away?" I asked after reaching his space.

Martin pushed away from the wall and we began walking toward the inner city, "I'm carrying, didn't want to push my luck. How'd you like the book?"

I lifted the large object in my hand. Calling it a book was a stretch, but it was the closest to what it looked like.

"Amazing. How did you make it?"

Martin laughed but continued walking, "The same way you write a story. You need an idea, you need to research, and sometimes you need a team."

"A team?"

"Yeah, you can't change the world by yourself."

"How do you plan on changing the world? Playing music in a run down bar?"

Martin stopped walking and spoke seriously, "Music can change the world."

"Sorry I brought it up,"

"Anyway, what do you know of the over-mind?"

His question made me realize how little I knew about it. I knew Haruhi was a key part of it, and that the members of the S.O.S brigade were people from other organizations sent to observe and maintain her delusion of life.

"Not a lot. Just that it's supposedly the creator of our world."

"You're not far off. It is in control of our world, but not the creator. The under-lord was the creator. He created all this, everything, as a refuge for the people of the world."

"He created all this? You mean we're inside a computer?"

"At one point, yes. Now, no. It's evolved farther than that."

We turned down an side road and began walking through a housing district with a few shops and businesses lining the crowded street.

"So, everything is fake?"

Martin nodded, "Yup, nothing but strings of computer code."

"And the people?"

"They are real people, only they don't exist outside this world. Everything started as a simple experiment led by a military research lab. It was given the name, Project: Blackout. Blackout was nothing more than a blueprint and an idea."

Martin looked over his shoulder, but returned his gaze to the street in front of us.

"The project was scrapped due to technological difficulties. Good idea, just the means of achieving it wasn't available. In 2044 the world united as one. Everything was in control of the Global Peace Front. There issues, but they managed to prevent war for awhile. In 2112 it began. First were the usual threats, then the retaliations, then came the nukes."

This time he stopped and looked behind him. I turned around and looked with him.

"See anything?" I asked.

He shook his head and we continued.

"Anyway, in 2114 the terrorist organization Anarchy United raided a military store house and inside were the plans for Blackout. One year of planning, and they were ready to test. A group was chosen, and they were sent inside. Among this group was Igor Sidorovich, the man you met yesterday. He was chosen to program and maintain the system while inside."

"So, everyone we see are real people, but there are no more people."

"Correct."

"If that's the case, how are we here? It doesn't make sense."

Martin shrugged, "In 2117 the inevitable happened. All the nations launched their weapons and just like that, Humans were extinct. The only humans left were inside of Blackout, their physical bodies destroyed, but mentally they were still alive."

"So, we are all descended from that main group?"

"Correct. We-"

Martin stopped and fully turned around. He stood for nearly a minute just looking at the empty road we just passed.

Again, I looked but didn't see anything. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and began dialing a number.

"Hey, Saori, do me a favor. Get ghost to meet me us downtown."

I began to get nervous. There had to be something wrong.

"Calm down, it's probably nothing. I just need her nearby. No it's not like that, just in case something goes wrong. No, nothings wrong, just-"

He pulled the phone from his ear and looked at the screen. It was glowing bright and I could hear a strange noise coming from the speakers.

"What's going on?" I asked.

He looked around again, and looked toward the sky.

"We have to move, let's go."

I didn't waste time asking. I just followed. Even carrying my books I managed to keep up with him, although I wished I'd spent more time actually exercising in P.E.

With every step we took the sky grew darker until it almost looked like it was later in the day.

Suddenly, three men appeared out of thin air. They blocked the road in front of us and were carrying baseball bats. They all looked the same. Medium height, brown hair, white, glowing eyes. They looked like copies of who I seen earlier.

From behind us, came a whoosh sound. I jumped to the side as a baseball bat swung into the space I was only a second ago. Martin was reaching behind him when the owner of the bat jabbed backwards and caught him in the stomach. He doubled over and dropped his gun.

The attacker raised the bat over his head and was ready to swing again.

I dropped my books and launched myself sideways. I managed to bump into him, sending backwards.

Regaining his balance before me, he reeled backwards and swung towards me. I leaned backwards and tripped over the coughing Martin and fell into the wall behind me.

The attack missed, sending him spiraling from the weight of the bat. Martin grabbed at his legs and pulled him to the ground. He grabbed the bat and began a barrage of attacks that would have killed a normal person.

Instead of a violent demise, the man disappeared into an explosion of blue and white computer code.

Martin used the bat to pull himself to his feet. He raised the bat and ran towards the group who already preparing an assault. He absorbed the swings he couldn't avoid, and attacked whenever he had an open shot.

I tried to stand up but my vision was still shaking so I remained in my spot against the wall.

I heard footsteps approaching rapidly. Yuki burst into my view and dove forward while her fist glowed with the same code the man who disappeared turned into.

She collided with one who would have landed a devastating blow to Martin had she not intervened. She pushed him to the ground and hit him in the chest, giving him the same death of his counterpart. Martin turned to see who joined the fight and caught a strike to the back of his head. While he stumbled backwards Yuki manage to finish of the remaining of the attackers.

Martin stumbled to the wall and slid down it next to me.

"So many men with bats. It's like I was living in New York again."

Yuki picked up my books and started toward the wall. Someone dropped in front of her wielding a sword.

I recognized the eyes as the ones that were glaring at me yesterday. She wore a loose fitting kimono, and held her sword with the point towards the ground. Her hair was white and fell around her as she dropped from the sky.

Her foot slid behind her as she prepared to attack.

"Stop, it's fine," Martin said, still gaining his breath.

Her eyes didn't waver from Yuki who remained impassive. She sheathed her weapon and stood up straight.

"I could have done without that," I said, my vision returning to normal.

Martin chuckled, "Welcome to the machine."

"Where did you come from? Were you following us?" I asked looking towards Yuki.

"Yes. I tried to warn you this morning that you were a target. When you wouldn't listen I followed you incase you were attacked." she replied in her monotonous voice.

If I had only listened this morning, none of this would have happened.

"I thought you wanted to talk about Haruhi."

Yuki walked over and handed me my books, "That would have been brought up."

I pulled myself to my feet and took them, taking special care to conceal Martin's book. She looked at it suspiciously but didn't say anything.

Martin likewise stood up and crossed the road to pick up his gun. He looked at the knicks and chips in the metal and sighed. He slipped it into the back of his belt.

"Well, I'm not sure what to do here. My enemy is standing in front of me, in the open."

"I am not your enemy," she said slowly.

"If she attacked those things wouldn't that make her an enemy of your enemy?" I said, thinking of a way to keep things calm.

"That does make a good point. Why did you help us?"

"I was assigned to protect Kyon," she began, "I was not given instruction to do so depending on the side he chooses."

"It doesn't look like being neutral is an option anymore," Martin said while cracking his neck, "I suggest you learn some self-defense, because this is only the beginning."

I nodded, "I may need your help with that."

* * *

Well, that happened quickly.

I began a lot of it after I got home yesterday and let's just say I was in no condition to write. Looked at it tonight, and half of it was illegible…

So, I managed to get what you just read. I'm sure I messed it up, but I'm already behind and need to focus on what's next.

Well, time to spend some birthday money.

Thanks for reading.


	5. When Darkness Falls

Once again, another past due update. My apologies, got caught up in another story and forgot about this one momentarily.

Anyway, here's a little UL showing just what happens inside this book of theirs.

Machine Head - Be Still And Know

* * *

"Finally," he said with a yawn as he closed the textbook and dropped it on the bed beside him.

He checked the clock at the head of the bed and was satisfied.

"Just enough time," he said as he looked at the book he'd forgotten to return.

He stood up and opened to the title page where 'mir' was written, all lowercase. He turned the pages, glancing at the markings and letters from a different language were printed. As he fumbled through to the end of the pages with writing, he noticed a group of four or five edges where pages were removed by force.

He returned to 'mir' and remarked on the image covering the page beside it. A carefully drawn picture of a small group of cobblestone and hay roofed houses. There were almost dot shaped people drawn going about their lives.

He watched the picture animate as the people inside moved around from in and out of the view.

After another moment, he placed his hand on the picture and entered the world.

[][][]

He emerged from the forest south of the village and was again enraptured by the view. Everything was the same as his last visit, but nonetheless was just as remarkable.

One second, he was in his room surrounded by technology and the next he was inside another world hidden inside a book of all things.

Green grass and lush rolling hills filled the land past the village and seemed to sprawl on forever. He saw the stables for the animals, many of which he had never seen before, and the people tending to them.

From out of the village he seen a woman start walking in his direction. She wore a dress made of the same material as the rest of the villagers, and was dyed the same pale color as theirs. Her skin was as tan from the harsh sun as the rest of the workers, and she wore a red necklace with a thin rounded triangle of plastic hung on it. It kind of looked like a guitar pick.

'Martin you lecher…'

"Greetings," she said as she reached the spot where he was standing.

"Hello," he replied, still unsure how to act around these 'people'.

She glanced over his shoulder expectantly, "Are there more coming?"

He turned around, "No, just me again."

"Oh."

"Something wrong with me?"

She forced a smile, "No, of course not. It's just good to know our creator hasn't forgotten us."

They began walking in the direction of the village, silence taking up most of their time.

"So, how's everything?"

She opened the gate for him and followed, "Hasn't been too bad, we've had the usual trouble, but things have been better."

"Anything I can help with?" he asked as he leaned against the fence to watch the animals.

She seemed to contemplate the offer before responding, "No, we can handle it. But maybe if you speak with the creator, could you ask him whether or not they are any closer to their goal?"

"Goal?"

"Well," she began, letting her gaze drift to a chicken pecking the ground at their feet, "I don't want to say much in case he was trying to keep anything from you. Not that he would, just that you said you just joined them and he might not of had time to explain everything himself."

"Such as?" throwing the line.

"Such as," taking the bait, "We're confined here, there isn't a lot of space and morale keeps dropping. Occasionally the other tribe attacks us, and we're having more and more trouble keeping them away."

The chicken was joined by several more and soon the entire flock was around them.

"So, what is it the other tribe wants?" he asked.

She reached in her pocket and began dropping handfuls of feed onto the ground around the chickens, "What is it anyone wants? More. They have the entire forest to themselves, which is fine, we tend to stay away from there anyway, but they are not satisfied with that."

He turned and looked at her, "What's wrong with the woods?"

"Every night, there are sounds and shrieks that carry on the wind. The noises usually stay away, but on rare nights they sound as if they're just outside the village and sometimes we see things. Eyes floating in mid-air, moonlight glinting off claws and fangs. Sometimes people go missing."

Kyon shuddered at the image of the creature.

She sighed, "We have knowledge, and patience. They have strength and skill. Soon they'll have numbers. We have to use our patience and hope the creator has a reason for everything."

Kyon pushed off the fence and began walking toward the forest, "Patience is something I lack."

"So you'll talk to the creator?"

He looked back, "Yeah, I have some questions myself."

"Thank you, Kyon."

He stopped and turned around, "I don't think I caught your name."

She smiled and lifted the guitar pick on her necklace, "Eve. My name is Eve."

[][][]

Kyon reached the clearing that held the altar that would return him home. Facing it, he contemplated leaving and waiting to ask Martin the questions he had. He looked in the direction he was walking, and after a moment he continued.

The trees and brush became denser the more he walked until he thought it nearly impossible to continue. He switched from walking through the brush to hugging the trees and pulling on the vines that wrapped themselves around the canopy and hung like snakes.

After traveling this way for another ten minutes, the brush thinned out and he came to a makeshift fence made from twigs and tree limbs tied together with rope.

No skulls or foreboding signs, so he climbed over the fence and continued.

"Well, nothing so far," he said out loud, not sure who he was trying to convince.

He began to hear noises the further he walked, but they were far away and sounded harmless. He was surprised by how little he seen of the other tribe.

As if he triggered a response, the noises grew louder and more fierce. He quickened his pace and looked in the directions he heard the noises. They began to circle him, surrounding him without restricting his movement.

He hadn't noticed he began running, stumbling over the limbs and roots that covered the forest floor. He felt something snag his foot and rip him upwards into the sky. As he lost momentum, he began swinging back and forth while upside down.

He struggled to reach the snare around his foot and gave up on the third try. He looked to where the figures began to emerge. They had red eyes and sharp claws, and approached by hopping on their hind legs. Their entire bodies were covered in long fur and was a dark black.

"_Not a monster," _one said to the other in another language.

Kyon noticed their mouths didn't move when they spoke.

"_Awful gutsy for the day walkers,"_

The third and final of them walked up to him and looked him over, _"He not day walker, look at what he's wearing."_

"_No fashion sense."_

"_Let's take to Adam, let him decide what to do."_

'I don't like the sound of that reply,' Kyon thought as a palm collided with his face, knocking him unconscious.

[][][]

He began to stir a few hours later. His vision was blurry and lacked all colors other than black and white. The sounds around him were like needles scratching on a blackboard.

His eyesight began to focus, and he could make out the pale flames of a fire in front of him. As his color returned, he noticed the surroundings were different than when he was taken and he was now sitting on a barrel.

There were huts lifted off the ground by stilts made of narrow logs with woven floors and thatched roofs. Some were higher than others, but all were built surrounding the fire with enough space to prevent a spread. Between the spaces were torches and shrouds.

He heard voices, though the sounded distorted and distant, _"He's coming around."_

Kyon moved his arms and legs to keep his blood pumping to his extremities in an attempt to quicken his recovery.

"Crazy foreigners, crazy computers, make believe people attacking me," he mumbled as he struggled to stand.

One of the creatures slid in front of him and growled loudly, effectively scaring him back into his seat.

Kyon put his hands up and nodded, trying to reason with the creature who stood upright and bowed slightly in return.

"You are not from here."

He looked in the direction of the voice to see another creature step out of one of the huts and begin walking toward him. It stopped a ways in front of him and removed his mask to reveal himself as another human. The rest followed suit and he realized he was in the presence of the other tribe.

Without their disguises, he could see they were pale from lack of sunlight. They were muscular, noticeably stronger than the other tribe, but had a very precise way of moving.

"I want to know why you are in my forest," the leader asked, a stern yet impassive expression on his face.

Kyon took a deep breath to remain calm, "I am visiting."

"You are a sky person?"

"Yes."

He shook his head, "Creator almighty, they're multiplying."

"Excuse me? Is that any way to treat a sky person?"

He shook his head, "You own the sky along with the creator. This is my land, I treat you how I want. Your life is the cut of a string away, understand? Sky person or not, you are not the creator."

Kyon nodded.

"Why are you here?"

"I am visiting."

"Why are you visiting?"

"To see if I can help."

"Help? Sky people only help those beneath them, in the light of day. We remain unheard while our screams of pain go answered by more attacks." he said, his voice remaining as cold and steady as before.

"See, maybe I can help."

"We don't want your help. Creator gave us strength and cunning to survive. We can take care of ourselves."

"So why do you attack the other village?"

He waved his arm around him, "Look. We are forced to live in this hell on earth. Creatures attack us almost nightly, food is becoming more scarce, and our numbers are dwindling. We want same as them, peaceful existence."

"Have you tried talking with them?"

"Aye," he nodded, "We have. Our pleas remained unanswered so we chose for ourselves. We took the village for our own, but when we awoke next morning, we back here."

"Maybe the creator wanted you to solve this peacefully."

At this he began to chuckle, "This is how we solve it."

He pointed to the barrel Kyon was sitting on and mimicked a bomb noise.

"At night we're forced to abandon our home and hide as our woman, children, and elderly do now. Inside these huts are twenty barrels each to be tripped by any unwanted visitor. Creature or not."

He stood up and looked out into the forest, "Because you are sky person, we allow you to leave. Be warned, next time we may not respond so calmly."

Kyon was pulled to his feet by the men at his sides, "Wait, I have questions."

The leader stopped and faced him, "And I have answers. What I don't have is time. My men will lead you to the altar. From there, the choice is yours."

[][][]

Martin smiled and looked up from his notebook, "So you met Adam, huh? All personality that one."

"A real nut case, you ask me." he said with a shake of his head.

They were sitting at the usual table inside of Comrade's. Kyon doing his homework, Martin something more confusing.

"So how were they?" Martin asked, his pen scratching noisily.

"Which group?"

"Both," he answered.

"Well," Kyon began as he finished an equation, "The village seemed okay. Same as last time I was there. They miss their creator a little."

Martin nodded, "Yeah, it's been awhile."

"Eve said something about a goal."

Martin showed no worry in his expression, "I've been working on it. Due to the limits of the book used, their area of habitation is small. Three quarters forest, one quarter plains. I'm working on that as we speak."

"How so?"

Martin leaned back from the notebook and looked over his writing, "I am creating a new world."

Kyon looked up from his textbook, "Really?"

"Yeah, mir was intended to be an experiment, never permanent. You noticed the names Adam and Eve? They are biblical characters. I intended for them to work out they're differences peacefully, but they disappointed me."

"Yeah, that's what Eve said, Adam began attacking them."

"Eve is as much to blame as Adam," he began, turning the page to continue writing, "You noticed the missing pages? A sort of checkpoint. The more that happens, the book keeps track of it. I had to remove their mistakes to return their destroyed world to the condition you witnessed it."

"So that was it?"

"Well, I had to punish them of course. It wasn't easy, but I had to make them understand there are consequences."

Kyon's gaze flickered between his notebook and textbook.

"_And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who would attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know My name is the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon thee."_

He looked back to Martin who seeing the strange look he received, replied, "Ezekiel 25:17."

"Another thing, where'd you get the name mir?"

"Mir is Russian for peace," he answered while looking to the book, "Let me see that."

Kyon handed him the book and looked to see what he would do.

Martin flipped through the pages and set it down when he found what he was looking for. He began copying down a page near the middle of the book.

"So how do you go about your goal?"

Martin continued copying the pages, "Right now, I'm copying the inhabitants from mir to their new world."

"No, I meant the grander goal. Conquering the world, and all."

Martin shrugged, "That's Igor's department. I just do the programming and the work."

"Then how does he plan on it?"

"All I know is it has something to do with the closed space created by Haruhi Suzumiya."

Kyon stopped writing, "If that's it, why don't we get her to trigger an event?"

Martin shook his head, "Don't ever directly cause her to create closed space. If we push too hard the world will be destroyed before we are ready for it."

"Isn't that what you want? I mean, if this world is destroyed we can make the new one."

"We know the end that we want, but we don't know the means to achieve it. The Agency's espers destroy the celestials because that will keep from destroying their world. They do it as fast as they can because it gives us less time to scout the closed space and find the information we need."

"What information do you need?" he asked closing his textbook.

"A lot."

* * *

Sorry for and inconsistencies, was not in the right mind state to complete this and had to scrap most of what I'd written.

Well, we found more of the world Kyon's been visiting, and more of what they are trying to achieve.

Thanks for reading, Haruhi's role in everything will be coming soon.


	6. Enter TTO

Another past due UL.

Indiana's choice of weather this past month was a large part of it, the heat being too high to have my laptop on more than an hour or so. As a result, many of my stories have been typed on my phone's word processor and sent through email to my laptop.

When it cools down, I will edit, and finish transferring everything.

Since you're reading this, everything went okay.

So, this chapter… some time has passed and there's gonna be a lot that happens.

Here goes.

* * *

Man, I can't believe how sore I feel. Just a week into my training, and they weren't taking it easy on me.

I found out from Hime after I gave her the tickets her sister's name was Riya. There has to be some joke there, but I don't get it.

After taking my lumps and packing up, I left for Comrade's, as usual for the past couple days. Ma never brought up why I was coming home so late, so unless sis blabs it shouldn't be a problem.

It was as I was leaving, I seen what was waiting at the gates to the school.

Instead of the computer generated assassins I frequently looked over my shoulder in search of, a group of assassins from the S.O.S Brigade was waiting.

Figuring this would end worse before it got better, I lowered my head and started walking.

Just several feet from escape, I was blocked and pushed back.

"I hope you've enjoyed you're little vacation," she yelled, her death stare amplified by the berating tone in her voice.

A quick glance to see who was on my side revealed a bored looking esper, a rather nervous looking time traveler, and a computer her nose buried in a book.

Great.

"Well? What have you to say for yourself?"

Her voice began to annoy me. The way she made everything someone else's fault, began to bug me. But most of all, the lack of any negative morality towards it passed me off.

I'm not one of those scumbags who beat women, but I figured this was as good a chance as ever to see how my training was going.

I heard Riya's voice, _"Visualize your target and nothing else."_

Easy enough.

"_Think to yourself, this is my enemy."_

"This is my enemy," well, close enough.

Her face remained impassive, "Excuse me?"

Now or never, "I was just wondering when the rest of your slaves would be as smart as me."

The quick twitch of her eyebrow showed my first attack was a success.

"_You must first attack with your mind, before your body."_

"If you're so smart, tell me the punishment I have in store for you."

I allow a smirk to find it's way onto my face, "It can't be half as bad as you punish them."

She stepped forward, moving into strike position, "They are well behaved club members, I don't need to punish them."

"Being around you is a punishment. The first step toward salvation is realizing it."

Having stated my point, I moved to walk around and let the situation end.

I should've known, with Haruhi Suzumiya, there is no end.

"You!" I heard the beast growl, her open hand approaching with a speed I didn't know existed.

"_You must remain as fluid as water, which has no shape or weakness."_

I leaned out of the way while sliding my foot forward. Stumbling over it, she toppled like a tree in a windstorm. I wasn't happy about it, but everyone has their own Haruhi that being patient with just doesn't work.

"Now, I'm only gonna say this once," I began, enjoying the shock on her face, "I no longer have any obligations to the S.O.S Brigade. So leave me alone."

Before turning to leave, I caught a glance at the group. Koizumi was no longer staring at the dirt, but giving me an decisive glare. Mikuru's face no longer had the nervousness it usually emanated, but there was something more behind it, something I didn't think she possessed.

Yuki remained buried in her book.

I walked away, savoring the feeling that crawled over me. Whether or not my actions would caused an outbreak of closed space was a different story. I'd deal with that when it happened.

**[][][]**

Mikuru watched as Haruhi stormed off in the direction of the school, a stream of expletives yelled at an alarming rate.

"So," Koizumi said, turning away from the gate.

Mikuru sighed, "So."

Koizumi nodded and began walking off in the direction Haruhi left.

Mikuru glanced back to Yuki, satisfied by seeing her eyes still inside the book. She began walking out of the school gates, stopping a good distance away from anything that may be listening. She pulled a device from her pocket, the shape giving it the look of an mp3 player.

Putting the headphones into her ears, she pushed a button on the side. The screen lit up brightly and the words 'Time Traveler's Organization' appeared, blinking twice before switching to a loading screen.

'Connecting…' flashed several times before disappearing, being replaced by a blonde woman wearing a blue and black uniform.

"Hello, thank you for contacting the TTO. How can I help you?"

The blue and grey walls of the headquarters were dominant in the background, showing her clearance had been upgraded as promised, "I need to speak to Legato. It has to do with the Haruhi case."

"One moment please," the receptionist answered cheerfully, the screen returning to the connecting message.

After a moment, the screen flickered before showing the message, 'Connected to Director William Legato.'

"Asahina, how's it going? Any luck?" his face filling the screen.

She shook her head, "No, sir. It seems our inside agent has turned. We could have a problem."

His cheerful expression faltered, he looked away to try to hide it, but failed to do so. He moved out of frame, showing the office behind him. There was an overhead light source, the quality showing it to be something more than standard fluorescent bulbs.

The room was decorated with the same blue and grey walls, but the organization's emblem, a clock with lightning bolts for hands, was displayed prominently. Below it were bookshelves completely filled with a number of different colored and sized collections.

There were two sets chairs in front of it, only one was occupied, a guard standing behind it.

The woman sitting in it looked to be in her later teens. Her hair was long and in neatly formed ponytails, it's color around the shade of orange,

She had brown eyes, almost orange in color. They seemed to be focused angrily on the screen, as if she was glaring at Mikuru. She wore the black jumpsuit of a TTO prisoner, which explained her lack of happiness.

William returned into view, shaking his head, "They weren't happy, but I just assigned the Monolith Squad to your time as backup. Just in case we need to contain more insubordinates."

"More?"

He sighed, "Yeah, we've received orders from the Elite Council. There's been an attack on headquarters, by rogue time travelers and espers. We've apprehended nearly a dozen threats to our case. Specifically anyone believed to know of Haruhi Suzumiya aside from anyone directly related to the case."

He looked over his shoulder, "For some reason, they don't seem to enjoy it."

"What are my orders?"

"Maintain surveillance of persons of interest and report if there's any trouble before Monolith arrives."

Mikuru saluted, "Understood."

**[][][]**

Martin drank from his glass and set it on the table, "What about ice? Isn't that a weakness? I mean, you can freeze water and then crush it."

I shrugged, "I thought the same thing, but I guess it'll melt and return to water."

"Huh, never though about that, water kicks ass."

I looked out the window of the diner, watching everyone that passed. Funny to believe that everything was an illusion.

After meeting him at Comrade's, he said he had a funny feeling to go here, so we left.

"Nonetheless," he said, leaning back while lighting a cigarette, "I told Igor about your incident. Everyone is on alert in case it caused closed space."

"On the subject, you said a lot of what you're doing has to do with closed space, so shouldn't we be doing more to cause it?"

Martin sighed, "That would risk premature destruction of this world, we've had this discussion before."

"It just seems like all we've been doing is sitting around." I leaned back, looking around the diner.

"I'm with you. Waiting is annoying, but Igor knows what he's doing. He gives the go ahead, we can cause as much closed space as we want."

"Yeah."

"Speaking of," he said, glancing toward the window where a bush was casually sliding down the sidewalk.

I blinked, unsure what I was seeing. The bush stopped and sat for a while before some of it parted and a pair of binoculars popped out.

"No way,"

We tried pretend like we didn't notice, but our eyes kept flickering outside. I mean, it's not often a bush just walks down the sidewalk, right?

After some time passed, the binoculars disappeared.

The look on his face showed he was deciding on something, "You still got the book on you?"

I nodded, grabbing it from the pile beside me and set it on the table. Martin flipped through the pages, stopping on one that was filled from tip to bottom with squiggles and characters of the strange language.

He slid it towards me and pulled the notebook from his backpack, opening it to mir's new cover page. I noticed the difference right away. The image was from farther back and showed much more scenery than the book did. There were now two settlements and many more people moving about.

The image continued to reflect their movements.

"Follow my lead."

The bush disappeared in favor of an angry Haruhi. Well, I guess that's be a normal Haruhi.

She stormed across the street, not checking for traffic which caused a number of horns and expletives to exchange between them.

I pretended to be in the middle of an conversation when she reached the table, forcing me out of the way to take a seat.

Her and Martin locked into a death-stare contest, both holding steady.

"Who is this?"

Didn't even look at me.

"This is-"

He cut me off, forcing a grin to his face, "Martin's the name, head of the SPR."

She raised and eyebrow and folded her arms, "And what is that?"

"Society for Paranormal Research. I was just discussing the terms for enrollment."

"How is it I've never heard of them?"

"Oh, you know," he began, thinking quickly to cover his story, "Top secret, funded by the government."

"Oh yeah? Which one?"

"Ones, as in multiple. It wouldn't be a secret if I told you, would it?"

Her eyes caught the moving image of the book, "And what is that?"

He shrugged, "We're not sure really. It's one of the alien objects we were asked to decipher."

"Alien?"

"Well, alien as in unexplainable. The spaceship is under guard at an undisclosed location."

I was impressed at how much he was able to make up on the spot. I decided it was my turn to step in.

"So, what will I be doing if I'm accepted?"

"Well, you're first assignment would be-"

She slammed her hands on the table, "One thing you're forgetting is he already belong to the S.O.S Brigade!"

"S.O.S Brigade? I've never heard of that agency."

"It's just a dumb school club, nothing real."

I felt the daggers being stared at me.

"Is that so? Well, maybe you could file for accreditation with a real order, but for now I think a change of venue would help further our discussion."

Haruhi showed no sign of moving, her hateful gaze flickering between the book on the table and Martin.

"Yeah, it's a little crowded here," I added, closing the book and adding it to my pile.

Instead of pushing her away, I climbed over the seat and slid out from the other side.

"So, Professor Van Nostrand is the lead scientist in paranormal research at our headquarters," he said loud enough for her to hear.

After leaving money with the waitress, we left the restaurant and started toward Comrade's.

"That felt pretty good."

I wished we could of stuck around to have seen the aftereffect, but I was satisfied.

"None of this gets to Igor, or anyone. I agree, no more sitting around. If that didn't cause any closed space, we might be in trouble."

**[][][]**

"Seems they egged her on," he said, crouched on one knee near the edge of the roof of the restaurant.

The wind at this high of altitude blew his long hair to the front, interfering with the visual radius of his visor.

He said and tucked the blonde stands behind his ears, "Damn wind. What's the status on the data child?"

Another of the group crouched and looked at the roof in the direction of Haruhi's heat signature. A red light flashed back and forth on the front of his own visor as it began scanning.

"It's off the charts, Chief. Definitely abnormal."

Chief stood and turned to face his group.

All three of them wore similar visors and black suits. The only sign of a ranking were the color of their ties. Chief's was black, the highest color given to an Monolith agent.

"So, what do you think?"

Standing from his crouched position, he shrugged as the window tore at his suit, untucking his own red tie, "It seems like the only outcome is an outbreak. Could be a big one."

Chief nodded, "Want to add anything, Brutus?"

The third one stood against the wall of the building next to them, his spiked hair fairing better than his colleagues. He didn't say anything, just stood with his arms folded, staring at the roof.

"Alright, good talk. What about you, Kumi?"

"Well," he began, thinking back to his recent training, being newest in the group, "We should decide if we can handle it or not. If so, we need to close the TPDD before irreparable damage is caused. Then we should notify the executor of the Esper department in charge of the Haruhi case."

"If you haven't noticed, the Time Traveler's Organization and the Esper Agency isn't on good terms right now, hence the separation of the two."

He looked at the sky, it's blue slowly fading to a light grey.

"We're here to observe, for now, I think we can close the machine. If we need to, we'll open it again and deal with it later."

Kumi nodded, and disappeared.

Brutus sighed as he leaned away from the wall, "I can't stand new recruits."

Chief shrugged, "He's not so bad, just a little fresh from the course. A little experience under his belt will mellow him out."

Brutus joined him at the edge and they both watched the people going about their lives, "I don't like this one. Something's off about it."

"I felt the same way. That's why we've been given clearance for the X-12's."

"That's most of it, I mean they haven't even been tested yet," Brutus added while shaking his head.

"Yeah," Chief began, flipping up his visor, "But that's what we do. We're glorified scientists."

* * *

A good ending for this one, it'll pan out in the next chapter.

I've been toying with adding the agencies for awhile, not knowing if they were canon or not, but I figured it's an AU story, so what the hell?

I introduced a few new characters, directly one from the canon and a few others by implication.

Anyway, next chapter will largely take place in closed space, not so sure if I wanna rush things along or not, but I'll know by then.

As always, thanks for reading and tolerating my hectic schedule.

By the way, see if you can guess the Seinfeld reference, lol.


End file.
